There is one classic poetic essay that has passed down for twenty centuries, and this poetic essay depicts nothing but a heart wrenching love that even an Emperor cannot forsake. The author of this lamenting elegy is the seventh Emperor of Western Han dynasty, Liu Ch’e and the heroine of this love story is his beloved Lady Li. Little historical record has been found on Lady Li’s courtesy name, date of birth or her life story, and historians and researchers are only able to deduct the reason why this charming and wise young lady was so special for the Emperor from those songs and elegies. However, the very fact envelops this historical figure in a veil of romantic yet sad mystery. Through the analysis of this paper, it is possible to see that in ancient Chinese culture, female power and influence was exerted through not only appearances but also wisdom and love. In the conservative and feudal society dominated by male power and Confucianism, Lady Li was justified to use her wisdom to interact with her man on equal footing.

The Emperor Wu and Lady Li met each other because of the Song of Beauty and this song together with the elegies written by the Emperor become the source of our understanding of how Lady Li were able to earn such a special place in the great Emperor’s heart. In fact it is quite obvious as the song goes: such a fair young lady is worth a town and even a kingdom, yet there is only one in the whole world . The answer is her exquisite figure and appearance. At the first glance, the Emperor’s heart fell for her and a touching love story started brewing. However, to say the attractiveness of Lady Li lies only in her gorgeous appearance is a shallow opinion. The reasons why she could achieve what she wished for from the Emperor are not solely because of her look but also her temperament and uniqueness. The Song of Beauty contains the best and most accurate description of Lady Li’s temperament and uniqueness: In the North Country is a lady fair, she stands alone beyond compare (Owen 215). Lady Li entered the court as a dancer recommended by Princess Ping-yang who was the most intimate sister of the Emperor (Yuan 59). In a Lecture Room video lesson, Professor Yang from Zhongnan University provides a reasonable explanation for the lovers’ first meet that the Princess knew what type of girls have such attractiveness to touch her brother’s heart. Lady Li happened to be just the one and she made the Emperor think constantly of her even after she died. Bai Juyi, the famous poet from Tang Dynasty, once wrote a seven-character verse dedicated to the love story of the Emperor and Lady Li: unforgettable when she was alive, unforgettable even when she died, such gorgeous beauty will never be forgot, unlike objects man has feelings, or better still never met her . Lasting impression does not depend merely on appearance but on other people’s feeling, because youth and beauty will fade but the joy and love one makes people feel will forever remain.

Lady Li apparently knew that fact. Therefore, when she was taken seriously ill at such a young age, she was wise yet strong enough to against the Emperor’s wish to see her for one last time. In The Han History, Ban Gu depicted the last visit of Emperor Wu with imaginative conversations between the parting lovers. When the Emperor insisted on seeing Lady Li and then he would take care of her brothers, she answered calmly and wisely: “It is the Emperor who can decide whether grant my brothers high posts or not; letting you see me one more time makes no difference.” Then the heartbroken Emperor left leaving Lady Li sobbing in silence. Later, she explained what she had in mind to her sisters: the reason why I refuse to see the Emperor one last time is exactly for the benefit of my brothers. The Emperor was fond of me because of my young and beautiful appearance and the happiness we once had, now all of these had gone due to my illness. I would rather not letting him see me haggard, spoil our rosy past and sacrifice my brothers promising future. The authenticity of those dialogues cannot be tracked down, but according to the historical facts in The Records of the Grand Historian, the Emperor promoted Lady Li’s brothers, Li Guang-li to the position of the Duke of Hai-xi, and Li Yan-nian to the position of Director of Imperial Music . Their son, Liu Bo became Prince Ai of Cheng-yi, which was then an affluent fief. Later after the Emperor passed away, the Lady herself was posthumously honored the title “Emperor Wu’s Empress” according to the Emperor’s will (Owen 216). To a certain extent, Lady Li achieved what she wanted for her families through her disobedience to the Emperor’s wish to see her, however, on second thought, it is her confidence in their love that win her everything. She had clear understanding of how she became the Lady Li of the Emperor. When compared to Empress Chen whose vicious heart made her sabotage the later Empress Wei using witchcraft methods , the purity of Lady Li’s love became precious in the Emperor’s eyes. When compared to Empress Wei, the youth and wisdom of Lady Li help her won the Emperor’s heart. She knew as the Emperor’s Lady, too much involvement in political affairs would not help her families, and too much abuse of the Emperor’s favor for one’s own benefit would result in tragedies. To know when is the right time to do what one is expected of is the way to preserve the Emperor’s fondness. It seems a fair trade for she exchanged her irreplaceable love with the Emperor for a lasting remembrance together with a brief period of glory for her families.

Some moralists may feel that Lady Li took advantage of the Emperor’s favor for the benefit of her families, but I am inclined to believe that she was justified on that matter for cultural, societal and personal reasons. From the perspective of traditional Chinese culture, especially Confucianism, women are submissive, passive and powerless while those who exercised authority in this conservative and feudal society are men (Zhan 269). The cultural background preseted the fate of the characters and the tone of the story. The fate of women largely depends on their fathers, husbands and brothers’ wishes not theirs which means when they can be of use to the family’s interests, women in the family are the first to make sacrifice (Zhan 283). These sad fact echoes the notorious Confucian ethics which stated that the position of women is inferior to that of men. Women, no matter what her social ranks are, were subordinated to the principle of “Three Dependencies”: dependence upon her father as a girl, her husband as a wife, and the eldest son after her husband’s death (Zhan 276). Lady Li therefore bore the great responsibility of her families’ future on her delicate shoulders which justifies her every effort to secure her brothers and son a future. From the perspective of social and patrimonial hierarchy, Lady Li’s family background was the primary source of uneasy that pushed her to think that she was obliged to improve the current situation of her families. According to Sima Qian, the origin of an Empress is important, she who once was a dancer and singer would become the mistress accompanying the Emperor . It is therefore harder for Lady Li to climb higher on the court ladder compared with those who were born in nobility. All she could depend on was the Emperor’s love. From the personal perspective, Lady Li gave the Emperor what other women in his court are not able to give: understanding. She cherished their love and protected it using wisdom instead of calculations or schemes compared to Empress Chen. Lady Li’s love for the Emperor does not have many historical evidences such as poems and records, but the Emperor’s feelings for her was evidently shown in his poetic essays dedicated to her memory. From the words and phrases in In Memory of Lady Li, we see not an ambitious and cold-hearted Emperor who had only the nation’s interests in mind, but a wrenching heart of a husband who lost his beloved wife and happiness forever (Yuan 60). What the Emperor did for her family was out of love and sadness: as an Emperor of a grand nation, he can do nothing to save his beloved one back to life. So the generosity he showed to her family is a little waywardness which to a great extent comforted his own inner peace as well as her soul in heaven.

Fortunately and unfortunately, Lady Li won the Emperor’s heart but her sudden death enveloped their love story in a shadow of sadness which became a prime example of eternal love. Throughout the brief biography of Lady Li in historical records, we can find a charming and wise young woman who earned the Emperor’s fondness and became the Emperor’s soul mate through her love and wisdom. Her timeless wisdom of love taught us that it is only through deep and true love that eternity of love and remembrance can be reached. If it was not for the sake of their love and rosy past, Lady Li who was then bedridden would sure throw herself to her husband’s arms. However, her consciousness told her not to. Her firm attitude completed their love and left the Emperor a beautiful yet sad memory to dwell on. Therefor from my point of view, it is not the power of Lady Li that makes such a love story happened, but the power and wisdom of true love that moves the once cold-hearted Emperor. Love indeed conquers everything.